Rich Kids Are Doing Their College Visits in Private Jets

A class of eminently wealthy Americans has decided that visiting colleges the old-fashioned way—flying commercial, driving between nearby universities—is just too much of a bother. Dialing up fees that cross into the six-figure mark, families are chartering private jets and luxury limo services to dash between prospective schools.

“Dozens of families are taking advantage of the convenience by visiting colleges this way,” one executive at a private jet chartering company told The New York Post. The executive said he organized a 12-stop tour for the son of a well-to-do family in California. The price tag: $150,000.

None of the colleges this student visited were in the Top 10 colleges, as ranked by U.S. News and World Report.

According to the College Board, the average published yearly fees and tuition at a private, four-year college in the United States is $31,231. That doesn’t include housing, books, or food, but even at pricey New York University, the total practical cost of attending is estimated at $71,000 a year. In other words, a family could cover two years of schooling at one of the most expensive higher education institutions in the country, or blow it all—plus some change—on a more dignified college visit experience.

Of course, the idea is that someone who drops $150,000 on a college tour doesn’t have to make such pedestrian choices. Let’s just hope the students in question never have to adjust to sharing a bathroom with an entire floor of dorm residents.